Lately, prequels seem to be everywhere on TV. There’s nothing new about prequels, but in the past few months we’ve had (with varied results) prequels for Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and The Witcher. “Quels” (sequels, prequels and paraquels) aren’t restricted to any one genre, but they seem particularly prevalent in SF andContinue reading “The Quels — Expanding the World”
Tag Archives: writing
End of a Draft — and About Time Too
A few days ago, I wrote the final words in the first draft of the novel I’ve been writing for — well, a long time. Far too long. But finishing a draft is still special, even when it should have happened years ago, so it’s worth taking a moment to celebrate. This is a sequelContinue reading “End of a Draft — and About Time Too”
Gavrilo Princip and Jenkins’ Ear — How Wars Really Begin
A large proportion of fantasy novels involve warfare, and the reasons for those wars starting depend largely on the genre — but they’re usually quite straightforward. If it’s traditional high fantasy, there’s a war because some Evil Overlord wants to conquer and oppress the world, usually for no very clear reason, and the opposing sideContinue reading “Gavrilo Princip and Jenkins’ Ear — How Wars Really Begin”
Which World Is Your Story Set In? — reposted
This article was originally posted on my old blog in 2015. It felt it was well worth reposting, and I hope you’ll agree. People who don’t like fantasy often base their objections on the claim that they prefer to read books or watch films set in the real world. For these people, the dichotomy isContinue reading “Which World Is Your Story Set In? — reposted”
You’re Starting to Drabble
It’s probably fair to say that my natural instinct is to write long stories. I might start with good intentions of keeping it to a story of four or five thousand words, but next time I look it’s into five figures. Some years ago, though, I disciplined myself to start writing flash stories — thatContinue reading “You’re Starting to Drabble”
Welcome to the Fantasy Worlds of Nyki Blatchley
So, I have a new website and a new blog — welcome to both. OK, what do you write about for the first post in a new blog? It doesn’t seem right to post something that could just as easily be the two-hundred-and-twelfth blog, so I’ll use this to introduce the site. I did haveContinue reading “Welcome to the Fantasy Worlds of Nyki Blatchley”
The Fantasy Worlds of Nyki Blatchley 